Wind farm generates cash for strath village
RESIDENTS in Cromdale are being asked how they would like to see the financial windfall spent as the community gain from a nearby wind farm.
The money has been generated by the £57 million development at Paul’s Hill which was opened on the Ballindalloch Estate in 2006.
Every three years Cromdale Community Council has been receiving money from some of the profits from the renewable energy scheme and the total now stands at £21,000.
The watchdog’s acting chairman, John Petrolini, said: "The money has been increasing as we have gone along. A few years back we got around £8,000."
So far the money has been spent by community leaders on new windows and running repairs to the village halls in Cromdale and also in Advie which forms part of the community council’s patch.
But Mr Petrolini wants the process to become more democratic than has been the case in the past.
The community council is now appealing for suggestions from residents of Cromdale and Advie for how the money should be spent.
However, he said the funding can not be spent willy-nilly and needs to meet certain criteria with categories including environmental improvements, energy efficiency, tourism, recreation and local amenity.
Mr Petrolini said: "The community council is responsible for the initial decisions on which projects should go forward but it is the custodians of the Paul Hill Windfarm Community Fund who have the final say."
Paul’s Hill was Scotland’s largest wind farm when it was opened by the then new Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling on his first official engagement in his new post after Tony Blair’s cabinet reshuffle.
Developed by Fred Olsen Renewables Ltd, through its agents, Natural Power Consultants, the Paul’s Hill development initially comprised 24 turbines.
Four more wind turbines were erected a short time after opening to give an installed capacity of 65 megawatts, enough electricity to power over 47,000 homes for a year.
Suggestions should be sent to the secretary Susan Mayle by email to cromdalecommunity@btinternet.com and need to be in by the Autumn.
The Paul’s Hill project, on an area of open moorland, had to deal with a number of environmental issues, as the site lies within the catchment of the River Spey.
Developers said they worked closely with Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and Moray Council to ensure that best environmental practices were followed during construction.
A limited company was formed to make available a community fund which the backers said at the time would provide over £1 million in benefit to local communities.
